Border Gate Economic Zone - The picture of 30 years and what is the direction for the new phase? Part 2: The Economic Zone on the Laos-Cambodia border

With preferential policies, these SEZs have "grown up quickly" in the first years of operation. But due to many barriers, problems with mechanisms and policies and confusion in development orientation, Cau Treo Economic Zone, Moc Bai, An Giang is now waiting to be "rescued".

Gate of Cau Treo Economic Zone is quiet and desolate. Photo: Hong Nu

"Clinical death" in the middle of the millennium

At Cau Treo Economic Zone (Ha Tinh) after 15 years of establishment, we can't help but be surprised by the desolate scene. The scene of trade in consumer goods, electronics and refrigeration from Thailand is bustling, with cars running up and down.

The land stretching for just over ten kilometers clinging to the National Highway 8A axis is no longer available.

In 2007, Cau Treo Economic Zone (Ha Tinh) was established and operated under Decision No. 162/2007/QD-TTg of the Prime Minister. Recognized as a non-tariff zone, with a series of incentives on financial, investment and land policies for investors operating in the EZ, thus, dozens of projects, hundreds of businesses, and individual households have participated in production and business investment here.

With a fervent spirit, after the first eight years of establishment (2008-2015), Cau Treo has become a dynamic and bustling economic zone, a bright spot in the economic development of Ha Tinh province.

Cau Treo Economic Zone has attracted 100 domestic and foreign enterprises to invest and be licensed for business registration, of which 17 projects have been granted investment certificates with a total capital of more than VND3,500 billion; over 1,200 individual business households trading and trading goods; 1,000 private traders were granted business registration certificates.

This potential land has attracted many restaurants and hotels, large and small, and the non-tariff area quickly became an attractive destination for tourist groups.

With the advantage of tax incentives, every day this place is crowded with cars going in and out of the commercial center area to collect electronic goods, refrigeration, cosmetics, confectionery, consumer goods, etc., and transport them to the North. Many small traders here have quickly distributed Thai consumer goods to the whole country.

Not only trading in electronics, but this place is also a focal point for rosewood business with 3-4 times the profit, creating a rich land with famous giants.

Having developed brilliantly, Cau Treo Economic Zone was quickly identified by the Government as one of the nine key economic zones in the 2016-2020 period, with preferential investment capital.

But now that glorious scene was gone, the place became unbelievably quiet. Currently, most of the projects that are considered as the locomotives of Cau Treo SEZ are dying prematurely; small and medium enterprises face too many difficulties.

For example, the tax-free general trade center of CK Company was invested VND112 billion, started construction (April 2012) at the most beautiful location in the economic zone, which is currently lying dormant.

Or Dai Kim Industrial Park (Son Kim 1 commune, Huong Son district) with a total area of ​​35 hectares, when it was newly formed, there were four deployed projects that have all collapsed.

Moc Bai - "City of the sun" is standing more and more

In 1998, Moc Bai Economic Zone was planned and piloted a number of development policies. In 2009, the Prime Minister issued Decision No. 1849/QD-TTg approving the adjustment of the general planning for the construction of the economic zone. Moc Bai by 2020 with a total natural area of ​​21,284 ha.

With three border gates (Moc Bai international border gate and two auxiliary border gates of Phuoc Chi and Long Thuan), Moc Bai Economic Zone was established to serve economic exchange activities between Vietnam and Cambodia and other countries within ASEAN. Located on the Trans-Asia Road (starting from Myanmar, passing through Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and ending in Guangxi, China), Moc Bai Economic Zone is only a short distance from Ho Chi Minh City, the largest economic center of Vietnam.

With a strategic location and preferential policies, Moc Bai SEZ was once known as the "Sun City" with many exciting trading activities.

In 2007, Moc Bai Economic Zone had more than 2 million domestic and international visitors visiting and shopping here. Sales of enterprises reached VND900 billion.

There are 56 registered investment projects including 11 foreign investment (FDI) and 22 domestic projects that have contributed to creating jobs for more than 17,500 employees.

Present at Moc Bai EZ in the last days of May 2022, we noted the desolate and desolate scene of the area that was once considered a "shopping center". Supermarkets, duty-free shops in the state of closed doors, bolts, places still in operation, there are only a few low-value items.

On both sides of the main roads such as Xuyen A and 75A, around the KTC, there are only a few cafes, auto repair shops and a few popular rice shops for truck and container drivers transporting goods through Cambodia.

The bus station of the border gate is empty, many roads began to deteriorate, the lighting system was damaged.

Adjacent housing projects located in the urban center of the border gate urban area are suffering. Dozens of spaciously built houses worth hundreds of billions of dong were demolished unfinished, and overgrown grass covered the rusted reinforced cement blocks.

Acknowledging that "all business activities are at a sustained level", Ms. Nguyen Thanh Thuy Dung, Head of Human Resources Department of Golden Century Co., Ltd. is an enterprise investing in a large tax-free supermarket system in the SEZ. After a busy and bustling business period, in May 2012, the duty-free supermarket had to temporarily stop operating. Currently, businesses have to narrow their business activities, with relatively low revenue. The company's container parking service business with an average volume of about 100 vehicles per day has not yet met all the traffic at Moc Bai border gate area.

An Giang - The bridge is not open yet

Identified as one of the nine national key economic zones, An Giang Economic Zone (established and put into operation since 2008) has a great advantage when there are three key border gate areas, namely: Tinh Bien, Vinh Xuong and Khanh Binh. These are the three important gateways for Vietnamese goods to penetrate and spread to the Cambodian market and beyond to the Mekong sub-region and Southeast Asia.

Mr. Lam Phu Tuan, Director of Indochina Co., Ltd. said: Indochina Co., Ltd. is one of the enterprises that invest in performing services in Tinh Bien Economic Zone (An Giang). The enterprise has invested in more than 11,000 m2 of goods inspection and supervision locations, including the customs office’s office, goods warehouse, and evidence warehouse.

Recently, the centralized goods inspection site of Indochina Co., Ltd. has attracted many import-export businesses here to wait for customs procedures. Enterprises also invested in eight conveyor belts serving rice and rice export and import enterprises at the border gate.

Check point for import and export goods at Tinh Bien border gate, An Giang. Photo: Thu Diu

Investing in warehouses at the Khanh Binh - Chrey Thom border gate (An Phu, An Giang), Duong Lan Import-Export Service One Member Limited Liability Company has been very convenient in performing services to attract goods to the yard. Ms. Duong Phuong Lan, director of the company, said that the company will expand investment in warehouses and roofs to increase services for import and export goods of border residents and businesses.

However, what businesses are worried about is that the general infrastructure in this area is not synchronized.

According to the plan, three economic zones Tinh Bien, Vinh Xuong and Khanh Binh (total area 26,500 ha), will be built with full functional subdivisions such as tax-suspension area, bonded warehouse, commercial center, urban area, farmer's market, entertainment.

But so far, the total investment in infrastructure for the three economic zones is only about VND100 billion, which is too low compared to the demand of about VND1,000 billion. Meanwhile, the annual state budget capital is only about VND10 billion.

Therefore, most of the EZ here are still struggling with site clearance. Only Tinh Bien Economic Zone has Xuan To industrial cluster with an area of ​​57ha under construction phase 1. Tax-suspension area at border gate, duty-free supermarket registered to build by five investors in An Giang and Ho Chi Minh City.

It can be seen that, like many other localities, An Giang SEZ is in a situation of "powerlessness" with little capital, scattered investment, sluggish infrastructure construction, and difficulty to attract investors. Meanwhile, the arterial traffic infrastructure system connecting An Giang with the Cambodian border provinces is incomplete on both sides, causing significant obstacles to trade activities.

With the purpose of promoting goods trade with Laos and Cambodia, a series of economic zones along the border with these countries have been formed. But after many years of implementation, although there has been a bustling development period, up to now, when reality and policies change, most of these areas are facing difficulties and stalemate, revealing many obstacles and problems that are not easy to solve.